Theatre and Dance

What is ACTF?

The American College Theatre Festival is a 5-day long opportunity for students and
faculty from colleges and universities who are interested in theatre to share ideas
and view one another's work. In addition to performances and competitions, there
are a wide range of activities that, in past, have included workshops and seminars
on such topics as play writing, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, scenic
painting, set design, and so on.

There are a total of eight regional festivals sponsored by the Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts which are held annually throughout the country during January
and February. We are in Region III along with colleges and universities from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Wooster Students Excel at American College Theatre Festival Regional Competition

Before the 2016 spring semester had even started, Helen Rooker ('18), Maira Senoo
('18) and Charlene Gross converged on Milwaukee for the Kennedy Center American Theatre
College Festival. Both students submitted work in Design, Technical & Management.
All three participants kept busy during the conference attending workshops, performances
and presenting work from The College of Wooster.

Charlene Gross presented a poster on the EL Wire designs from Kim Tritt's dance piece,
Luminescence on the design and technical aspects. She was also a respondent to the
Regional Design Projects.

Helen Rooker was recognized as outstanding stage manager for her work as Production
Stage Manager on Latins In La-La Land in Fall 2015. Because of her recognition, she
was invited to submit her stage management book on the show for for the National KCACTF
Stage Management Fellowship. She received excellent feedback from her judges during
her presentation.

Maira Senoo presented her costume designs for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for
the Regional Design Projects alongside of other undergraduate and graduate students
from Region 3 (Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan & Ohio). The project was first
designed for Charlene Gross's Costume Design class in Fall 2015. Maira also was given
excellent verbal responses and will receive additional written feedback from multiple
designers within the region.

Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition

Two Irene Ryan Scholarship participants are chosen for each mainstage production by
and ACTF respondent who adjudicates the show on one of the performance nights. To
accept a nomination means that the participant will attend the Festival in January
and will complete all the requirements put forth in the Irene Ryan Contract.

At the Festival, participants will be required to perform a monologue and a scene
or song for a panel of judges (consisting of directors from other colleges or universities).
Winners from that round compete in semi-finals in front of the entire Festival. Finals
are held the last night of the Festival and $2500 scholarships are granted to the
two winning participants from each region. These two winners will then go to the
Kennedy Center National Festival where they will perform in an evening of scenes in front of top professional actors,
directors, producers, and casting agents.